Tuesday 17 July 2012 17.18 EDT
First published on Tuesday 17 July 2012 17.18 EDT

Satirical news fans can rejoice as the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Colbert Report have made it through the Viacom and DirecTV dispute and are currently online.

The shows returned from vacation hiatus on Monday in the midst of a basic cable television battle between Viacom and DirecTV. Viacom is reportedly asking for a 30% increase in royalties to renew its subscriptions, which DirecTV thinks is too high.

Last week, DirecTV pulled 26 Viacom channels in response to their unsuccessful negotiations with the media conglomerate and advised customers to watch Viacom programs online. Viacom then pulled the satirical programs and other shows from their websites.

Since the blackout hit while Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert were on vacation, new programs, which had yet to air, were not missed. Yet, some Viacom-controlled shows are still blacked out online, including MTV's Teen Mom.

Viacom, who owns Comedy Central, has been using the shows in advertising campaigns in print and online against DirecTV, who they claim is refusing to negotiate in "meaningful conversation" about the royalties increases.

In Monday night's episode, Daily Show host Jon Stewart devoted the program's middle segment to the event in the Daily Show's traditional sarcastic style. Stewart criticized both companies and said: "you've got ad campaigns blaming each other for taking the shows away, telling people to rise up and demand it like it's some basic cable Arab Spring. I've got news for you, it's not. None of this matters, none of this is indispensable."

It is unclear why Viacom blacked the shows out to begin with, but Stewart himself noted that "the kids" probably have a work-around (like pirating) that would allow them to keep watching the show. Stewart continued to criticize the effectiveness of the blackout, asking: "So basically you're blocking old people from watching TV?"

During the show, Stewart addressed another recent controversy in his interview with comedian Louis CK. After comedian Daniel Tosh allegedley made a joke about rape, CK tweeted to Tosh: "your show makes me laugh every time I watch it. And you have pretty eyes." The comment was quickly seized by both Tosh defenders and critics in the controversy that followed. CK told Stewart he was on vacation in Vermont and was merely tweeting his thoughts while watching Tosh's show, unaware of the erupting scandal.